The major objective of this research is to make significant contributions to organic chemistry and medicine through synthetic studies of natural products with antitumor activity, including mitomycins, adriamycin, daunorubicin and aclacinomycin A. We believe that the power of organic synthesis can be most effectively extended by challenging such complex synthetic targets. Much of the progress in medicine depends upon the extension of power of organic chemistry. It is also our specific objective to develop general, efficient and practical synthetic routes to these natural products and then apply them to the synthesis of their analogs and derivatives with hope that some of them will exhibit improved therapeutic ratios.